The last lecture of my second year of medical school was over a month ago, and I’ve been on my third year rotations for almost three weeks now. But I couldn’t really relax and take a break from studying until this week when I took Step 1 of my COMLEX medical licensing boards. I was originally scheduled to take the exam on May 28, two days before my wedding. As it turns out, people who are in the final stages of planning a wedding don’t really have too much spare time to study. So I postponed the exam until June 21.
In
the meantime, on May 30, I married the love of my life, my high school sweetheart, and my best friend. Nine years ago, when I was a senior in high school, our two families booked a Spring Break cruise vacation to the Western Caribbean. I met Emily on the Enchantment of the Seas, asked her to my senior prom the following week, and we’ve been together ever since. The wedding was amazing. We all had a good laugh at the reception when the head waiter came to my table to confirm that I was a vegetarian. Literally three minutes later, he brought me a steak dinner. Little mishaps aside, I think everything went very well.
The next morning, on 4 hours of sleep, 
Emily and I boarded a flight to our honeymoon. Nine years after meeting there, we took a cruise back to the Western Caribbean and visited the same ports. We were in Grand Cayman for my 27th birthday and spent the day lounging on Seven Mile Beach. The next day, in Cozumel, we took a catamaran cruise to swim and snorkel. It was the same excursion we did on the first cruise and every bit as fun.
I started my third year rotations the day after we got back from the honeymoon. During the day, I alternate between rounding on inpatient service and following a hematologist/oncologist at his office. At night, I studied as much as I could for the exam. Now that the test is over, I can finally focus on my rotations during the day (more on that later) and relaxing, catching up on video games, and working on the new house at night. It still keeps me busy, but it’s nothing compared to two years of sitting in lecture for 9 hours a day. Only two years of medical school left. Halfway there.
Posted by brianfishman 
